Mayor forms Scofieldtown task force

Tests show contamination south of former landfill site

Published 9:52 pm, Tuesday, October 27, 2009

STAMFORD -- Mayor Dannel Malloy has created a bipartisan task force to guide the city in dealing with contamination in and around the former landfill at Scofieldtown Park.

The news came as city officials discovered the area of pesticide contamination in nearby residential drinking wells may be larger than previously thought. Test results the city received Tuesday found unsafe levels of the pesticide dieldrin in a well on Haviland Road, to the south of Scofieldtown Park. Previously, all known cases of contamination had been east of the former dump.

Benjamin Barnes, the city director of operations, said the city is not yet sure how to interpret the latest finding. Tests have shown other wells on Haviland Road did not contain pesticides above state limits, he said.

"It is my hope that this task force can be a group that advises the city's elected boards, advocates for solutions in the public interest, and provides the mayor and his staff with a helpful, independent perspective on this issue," Malloy wrote in a letter addressed to task force members Tuesday. "I also believe that it can be a way for those members of the community who are so powerfully affected or concerned by the contamination to have their voice be heard."

Malloy wrote in the letter that he believes the contamination problem will "require coordination, community input, and complex decision-making for years to come."

The city has been dealing with the fallout of contamination in the North Stamford neighborhood since May, when city officials closed Scofieldtown Park after a federal report found toxic chemicals in the soil. Since then, the city has identified 25 wells contaminated with pesticides on six nearby streets: Haviland, Very Merry, Hannahs, Larkspur and Alma Rock roads, and Skymeadow Drive.

Barnes said he is pleased with the group selected for the task force because its members bring unique qualifications to the table. Kaufman, who joined the Board of Representatives as an appointee in July, formerly worked as a hydrogeologist developing remediation solutions for chemical contamination in groundwater, including in cases involving old landfills. He has a bachelor's degree in geology and studied environmental policy and management at Montclair State University. Day heads the Board of Representatives Land Use committee, and Shemitz, in addition to sitting on the Environmental Protection Board, is executive director of SoundWaters, an environmental education nonprofit dedicated to protecting Long Island Sound.